Dudley Moore Trio - At the Apollo

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 28 / 10 / 2008

intro

Anthony Strutt finds the Arctic Monkeys new concert DVD, which was filmed at the Manchester Apollo at the end of a UK tour in 2007, well performed to very basic in its presentation

This 76 minute DVD film of the Arctic Monkeys live in concert was filmed at the Manchester Apollo at the end of a UK tour in 2007. There is also a box set of this with a poster, four postcards, and a live vinyl LP of a gig in Texas. At a cost of an extra £18 compared to the standard DVD, one has to ask if it is worth it nor not. Well, that, of course, depends on how big an Arctic Monkeys fan you are. The DVD features twenty songs, all of which are well delivered. I can't say that I was very impressed with the way it was shot. A lot of it is too dark. The audience isn't really shown, so it could have been a '4 Music' special. The music is impressive for the most part, but after a while to my ears it comes across as all sounding a tad bit too the same. Alex Turner comes over as likeable, but really it is just the music that delivers here. Not much happens in it apart from four guys playing bass, guitar, and drums, except for one song which Alex plays on the piano. There is also a brief appearance from Miles Kane from Alex's side project the Last Shadow Puppets on additional guitar. There are no stupid effects though, and a little bit of home footage at the end gives it a bit of character. If you want to see the band at all, this might be your only chance as tickets for the next tour will be gone as soon as they go on sale. It might make a decent present for a fan though for Christmas. The stand out tracks are 'Brainstorm', 'Fake Tales of San Francisco', 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor' and 'The Sun Goes Down'.